Removable plastic window grills



March 7, 1967 w. w. GRAY REMOVABLE PLASTIC WINDOW GRILLS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 27, 1964 March 7, 1967 w. w. GRAY 3,307,316

REMOVABLE PLASTIC WINDOW GRILLS Filed Jan. 27, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 7, 1967 w, RAY 3,307,316

REMOVABLE PLASTIC WINDOW GRILLS Filed Jan. 27, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 2 A J MV United States Patent Office 3,307,316 Patented Mar. 7, 1967 3,307,316 REMOVABLE PLASTIC WINDOW GRHLLS William Walter Gray, 617 Enfield Road, Burlington, Ontario, Canada Filed Jan. 27, 1964, Ser. No. 348,334 Claims priority, application Canada, Oct. 25, 1963, 887,556, Patent 712,378 4 Claims. (Cl. 52-507) This invention relates to sash type window constructions and more particularly to decorative grills to be applied to a window to give the appearance of a manypaned window.

Multi-paned or lattice windows have for the most part been replaced by windows having a single large pane due to the inherent disadvantages of such multi-paned windows including the higher cost of the frame, the greater amount of labour required in glazing and the difliculty of cleaning individual panes rather than a single sheet or pane of glass. However, the demand for such small pane windows, for aesthetic reasons have made it desirable to overcome these disadvantages. This has been done in part by providing decorative grills which do not hold panes of glass, but which are merely applied to a single pane of glass in a window to give a multi-paned appearance.

These grills have been made of Wood and have been permanently secured to the window frame. However, it is important that these grills be easily removable to facilitate cleaning of the pane adjacent the grill. Furthermore, it is desirable to provide a grill which is easily cleaned and does not require repainting.

A feature of this invention is the provision of removable window grills which give the appearance of a multi-paned window while reducing cleaning and maintenance problems.

- A further feature of this invention is the reduction of the cost of such a window grill by providing simple effective means for removably attaching the bars of the grill to each other and to the window.

' A still further feature of this invention is the provision of a window grill constructed of extruded plastic elements which can be produced in a variety of patterns and sizes without the use of expensive moulds.

Accordingly, this invention provides a window grill, for use with a window having a frame and a single pane secured therein, the grill being adapted to give a multipaned appearance to the window, the grill comprising interconnected bars having at least one longitudinally extending keyway adapted to receive securing means therein.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a window grill in accordance with one embodiment of this invention,

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the window grill of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a broken perspective view of an interior corner of the grill of FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a broken perspective view of an exterior corner of the grill of FIG. 1,

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view of a joint of the grill of FIG. 1,

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a corner key used to secure elements of the grill and an element of the grill,

FIG. 7 is a front elevational view of an alternative construction of a grill in accordance with another embodiment of this invention,

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an attaching means which may be used with the grill of FIG. 7,

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the underside of the attaching means of FIG. 8,

FIG. 10 is a broken perspective view of an alternative construction of an element of the grill,

FIG. 11 is a broken perspective view of another alternative construction of an element of the grill including, a slidable element and a corner key for use with the grill element, and

FIG. 12 is a broken perspective view of a further alternative construction of an element of the grill including a slidable element for use with the grill element.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, one form of a Window grill in accordance with this invention is shown generally at 10 in FIG. 1 installed in a window frame 11 having a pane 9 secured therein. The grill 10 comprises interconnected elements or bars 12, 13, 14 and 15. The bars 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 are hollow, substantially rectangular in cross-section and have integral substantially dove-tail shaped keyways 17 and 18 formed on opposed sides thereof (see FIG. 6). Each of the keyways 17 and 18 is constituted by a cross wall 21, an integral extension 19 and 20 of side walls 19" and 20" respectively and integral inwardly extending flanges 19 and 20 disposed at right angles to the extensions 19' and 20 respectively. The material used in constructing the elements of the grill 10 is preferably an extrudable plastic material, such as a vinyl resin.

The bars 12 and 13 are provided with complementary notches at their points of intersection in the conventional manner as shown more clearly in FIG. 5. The bars 12 and 13 are secured together by a pin 22. It will be noted that the pin 22 is inserted so as to extend along one side of the keyway 18 and to extend into the cross wall 21 of the bar 13 thus providing a strong joint while allowing the pin 22 to be concealed to a considerable degree. Other pins (not shown) are inserted in a similar manner to secure the two bars together. The bars 14 and 15 are secured to each other in a manner identical to that of bars 12 and 13.

The keyways 17 and 18 are adapted to receive a corner key 23 (see FIG. 6). The corner key 23 comprises a pair of interconnected arms 24 and 25, each of which is adapted to be received in the keyways 17 or 18 of the window bars. The thickness of the arms 24 and 25 is less than the depth of the keyways 17 and 18. Transverse ridges 27 and 28 are provided on each arm. The ridges 27 and 28 are adapted resiliently to deform the flanges 19 and 20 at their points of contact thus providing increased frictional engagement of the keys 23 in the keyways 17 or 18. The total thickness of the arms 23 or 24 plus the ridges 27 or 28 is substantially equal to or slightly greater than the depth of the keyways 17 or 18.

Bar 12 is then secured to bar 15 through the use of a corner key 23 (see FIGS. 2 and 6) inserted in the adjacent keyways 17 or 18 of the bars 15 and 16. Bars 14 and 16 are similarly secured to each other at the ends thereof through the use of a corner key 23.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, a frame 30 surrounds the interconnected bars 12, 13, 14 and 15. The frame 30 comprises upper and lower frame elements 31 and 32 and side frame elements 33 and 34, each element having the integral keyways 17 and 18 described above. The frame elements 31, 32, 33 and 34 are mitered at their ends in the conventional manner and are secured together by corner keys 23 received in keyways 17 and 18, as shown in detail in FIGS. 3 and 4.

With reference to FIG. 2 the end of the bar 12 secured to the bar 15 is in turn secured to the frame element 34 by a corner key 23 one arm of which is received in the keyway 18 of the bar 15 and one arm of which is received in the keyway 17 of the frame element 34. The remaining ends of'bars 12 and 15 are secured to frame elements 31 and 32 respectively through the use of corner keys 23.

Similarly, the bars 13 and 14 are secured to the frame elements 31, 32, 33 through the use of corner keys 23 received in the keyways 17 or 18 therein.

It will be appreciated that in order to slide the corner key 23 along the keyway 17 it is necessary to remove portions 26 shown in dashed lines in FIG. 6 to provide clearance between the arms 23 and 24 thereof and the flanges 19 and 20.

In assembling the grill the bars 12, 13, 14 and are first secured to each other and the assembly is then secured to the frame elements 31, 32, 33 and 34 prior to these frame elements being secured to each other to form the frame 30.

In operation, the grill 10 of FIGS. 1 and 2 is inserted in the window frame 11 in contact with the surface of the window pane 9. The grill 10 is usually secured to the window frame 11 by small pins. or nails (not shown) driven through the surrounding frame into the frame 11. These pins or nails are adapted to be withdrawn to permit removal of the grill 10.

It is also .possible to install the grill 10 between two panes of glass ina double glazed window in which case no securing means is necessary as the grill 10 can be held between the inner and outer panes of glass.

Alternatively, the grill 18 may be constructed without the surrounding frame 38 as shown at 40 in FIG. 7. The interconnections of the bars 12, 13, 14 and 15 of the grill 40 are identical to those described with reference to FIG. 1 and the description thereof need not be repeated.

To facilitate securing the grill 48 to the frame of a window, each of the bars 12, 13, 14 and 15 is provided with a slidable retaining element 41 (see FIGS. 7, 8 and 9). The slidable element 41 is substantially rectangular and of a width and thickness adapted to be slidably received and retained in the keyway 17 or 18 of the bars 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16. A longitudinally extending raised portion 42 is provided on the upper surface of the slidable element 41 integral therewith and with an upwardly extending projection 43. The undersurface of the element 41 (see FIG. 9) is provided with a groove 44 to receive a pin 45 having a head 46.

When the slidable element 41 having a pin 45 in the groove 44 therein is inserted in the keyway 17 of the bar 15, the pin 45 is retained therein.

In operation, the grill 40 is placed in the window frame in surface-to-surface contact with the window pane 9 and the slidable element 41 moved toward the window frame until the pin 45 extends into the frame. Slidable elements 41 on the other grill bars are similarly extended and secured to the window frame. The window frame used in this example is constructed of wood; however, the slidable element 41 is applicable to a metal or plastic sash provided holes are drilled in the sash to receive the pins 45.

A further alternative is that of providing a grill comprising elements having a cross-section as shown in FIG. 10. The griil element 60 has a single connecting wall 61 joining side walls 62 and 63. The side walls 62 and 63 are provided with integral inwardly directed flanges 64 and 65 at each side edge thereof to define dove-tail type keyways 66 and 67 similar to keyways 17 and 18 described above with reference to FIG. 6. The keyways 67 and 68 are adapted to receive corner keys 23, slidable retaining elements 41, and pins 22 in the same manner and for the same purpose as described with reference to preceding figures.

A still further alternative is that of providing a grill comprising elements 70 having a cross-section as shown in FIG. 11. The grill element 70 has a pair of flanges 71 and 72 comprising extensions of mutually opposed side walls 73 and 74-. The side walls 72 or 73 are adapted to be received in a keyway 76 provided in a slidable retaining element 77, the slidable element 77 is similar in all other respects to the slidable element 41 described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9.

Unlike the element 60 described with reference to FIG. 10, the element 78 is adapted to receive a corner key 78 in the hollow interior thereof.

A still further alternative is that of providing a window grill comprising elements 80 having a cross-section as shown in FIG. 12. The element 80 is provided with substantially dove-tail shaped keyways 81 and 82 in mutually opposed side walls 82 and 83 respectively. The keyways 81 and 82 are almost circular in cross-section. A slidable element 85 is provided with a downwardly projecting portion 86 (as viewed in FIG. 13) adapted to be received in and slidably retained in the channels 81 or 82. The slidable retaining element 85 is provided with a pin 87 embedded therein for co-operation with a window frame in the same manner as that of pin 22 described with reference to FIG. 8.

It will be appreciated that the shape of the grill depicted herein is illustrative only, and it is understood that the elements and securing means described and illustrated herein may be used to construct a great variety of configurations including diamonds, squares and diagonals.

I claim: I I

1. A window grill for use with a window having a frame and a single pane secured therein, said grill being adapted to give the appearance of a multi-paned window, said grill comprising interconnected bars, each said bar having a pair of flanges extending from mutually opposed side walls, a slidable element, said element comprising a body, a keyway in said body receiving said flanges, an upwardly extending manually engageable projection on said body, and a groove in a major surface of said body adjacent said side wall receiving and retaining a pin, said pi-n engaging said Window frame to secure said grill to said window frame.

2. A window grill for use with a window having a frame and a single pane secured therein, said grill being adapted to give the appearance of a multi-paned window, said grill com-prising interconnected bars, each said her having a pair of mutually opposed side walls, a longitudinally extending keyway provided on each said side wall, said keyways receiving a slidable element, said element comprising a body having a portion thereof received in said keyway, an upwardly extending manually engageable projection on said body and a groove in a major v surface of said body adjacent said side wall receiving and retaining a pin, said pin being engageable with said window frame to secure said grill to said window frame.

3. A Window grill as claimed in claim 2 wherein said bars and said slidable element comprise plastic material.

4. A window grill for use with a window having a frame and a single pane secured therein, said grill being adapted to give the appearance of a multi-paned window, said grill comprising bars interconnected to form a lattice complementary notches being provided in crossed bars of said lattice to form joints, each said bar having a pair of mutually opposed side walls, a longitudinally extending keyway provided on each said side wall, said keyways receiving pins extending along said keyway and into said side wall of an adjacent bar to secure said bars to each other at said joint.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,094,294 9/1937 Garritsen 52-616 X 2,132,217 10/1938 Nevendorf 52-455 2,310,539 2/1943 Nelson et al. -159 2,447,347 8/1948 Krantz 287-18936 3,058,517 10/1962 Jacobs et al. 160-136 3,061,055 10/1962 Nijhuis 287-18936 3,079,651 3/1963 Hagmann et al 52-616 X FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner. RICHARD W. COOKE, 1a., Examiner.

R. S. VERMUT, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A WINDOW GRILL FOR USE WITH A WINDOW HAVING A FRAME AND A SINGLE PANE SECURED THEREIN, SAID GRILL BEING ADAPTED TO GIVE THE APPEARANCE OF A MULTI-PANED WINDOW, SAID GRILL COMPRISING INTERCONNECTED BARS, EACH SAID BAR HAVING A PAIR OF FLANGES EXTENDING FROM MUTUALLY OPPOSED SIDE WALLS, A SLIDABLE ELEMENT, SAID ELEMENT COMPRISING A BODY, A KEYWAY IN SAID BODY RECEIVING SAID FLANGES, AN UPWARDLY EXTENDING MANUALLY ENGAGEABLE PROJECTION ON SAID BODY, AND A GROOVE IN A MAJOR SURFACE OF SAID BODY ADJACENT SAID SIDE WALL RECEIVING AND RETAINING A PIN, SAID PIN ENGAGING SAID WINDOW FRAME TO SECURE SAID GRILL TO SAID WINDOW FRAME. 